Through It All
by ElleMalfoy65
Summary: When their friend betrayed them, James gave his life to allow Lily the chance to escape with their son, Harry. Every escape plan they came up with always led back to one person, the only other person they trusted with their whole beings, Sirius. Now it is up to Lily and Sirius to protect Harry and keep him safe. AU. 18 . Sirius/Lily.
1. October 1981

**A/N: Hello my lovely readers. I know that it has been a while since I have updated any of my other stories. I am extremely sorry for that. My dementors have been attacking me relentlessly lately and I am trying to keep my head above water. This was actually the first plunny to pop into my head in a while and it was all because of my lovely and dear SaintDionysus posting a picture of Kit Harrington and Rose Leslie, mentioning that they could be Sirius and Lily if James hadn't been in the picture. So, in hopped this little idea.**

 **I promise that I am going to get back to work on my Dramione's soon, but right now, I am quite literally terrified of opening them. I feel that if I do, I will do something to the story line that I regret. So, I'm going to steer away from them for just a bit longer.**

 **This story here changes quite a bit, so it is definitely AU. I really hope you enjoy this prologue. It's not very long, but it gets the story started. Please let me know what you think!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, just the plot line in this story where it deviates from Queen JK's original story.**

 **XoXo,**

 **Elle.**

 **Prologue: October 1981**

"LILY! GO! PROTECT HARRY!" James' terrified voice echoed through their house in Godric's Hollow. This was it. This meant that Peter had betrayed them, that Voldemort had found them. Lily ran into Harry's nursery, scooping up the now screaming infant and wrapping him in his favorite blanket.

Downstairs she heard a crash, some glass shattering, and tears speared into her eyes. She could hear the muted voices calling jinxes and curses back and forth, could just envision her beloved home being blasted apart. Lily lifted her wand and quickly summoned all she would need for Harry.

She and James had discussed the various outcomes if this happened. Every plan had always come back to Sirius. James had told Dumbledore just before they went into hiding that if both he and Lily died, they wanted Harry to go to Sirius. Of course, that was if Voldemort didn't succeed in his mission to murder her precious baby.

Lily shook herself back to the task at hand, shrinking the lot of Harry's things and levitating them into a small bag. There was a loud yell from down below, which was abruptly cut off, and the house shook on its foundation as she felt a shockwave blast through the house. Lily felt her heart rip in two. She knew with absolute certainty that James was dead.

Her tears trailed hot and thick down her cheeks as she slung the bag across her chest, her wand clenched in her hand, a white-knuckled death grip on the elegant piece of wood. Lily was just about to spin on her heel and Apparate Harry away to safety when the bedroom door was blasted off the hinges.

Harry was red in the face. His green eyes - the mirror of her own - were clenched tight. His screams were the only thing she heard as her own green eyes, darkened to an olive color in her absolute terror, turned to meet the eyes of Lord Voldemort.

"Give up the babe." His voice was as smooth and warm as honey in a comforting, steaming cup of tea. How someone could make that sentence sound so normal, so welcoming, was beyond Lily.

Her eyes narrowed, her volatile anger flaring along with her nostrils. "I will never give up my son to you. He is just an infant. Harry has done nothing to you."

Gone was the buttery tone, the laugh that left Voldemort's mouth was cold and cruel. "It's not what he has done. It's what young Harry will do, sweet Lily." Lily watched as the most feared wizard in Europe began to lift his wand.

"What makes you so sure it is Harry?" Lily asked. She wasn't sure why she was stalling her escape, but she wanted to hear why this man - for that is all he truly was, just a man - was so sure that her son was the one in the prophecy. Lily knew the full prophecy; she also knew that Voldemort didn't. Severus, traitor though he was, hadn't wanted to risk being discovered by Dumbledore while he eavesdropped and had left before he had heard the full thing.

Those cold, dark eyes looked at her and she could see a slight reddening around the irises, as if they were beginning to change color. "Because, my dear, you and poor James have thrice defied me. Now, give me the babe and I will spare you, just as I promised Severus."

Lily felt sick to her stomach as she heard her former childhood friend's name. "I don't care what you promised Severus. You're not murdering my child."

"Very well then. Avada-" As the words began to drag out of his mouth, green light gathering at the tip of Voldemort's wand, Lily gave a primal scream. A surge of magic and power left her body in a wave as she began to twist on her heel just as the last word left his mouth. The green light filled the room, the jet racing for Harry. Lily prayed to whoever would listen as she Apparated that Harry would be fine when they arrived at Sirius' flat in London.

Seconds later, Lily popped into Sirius' flat, tears still leaving a hot brand down her cheeks as she pulled Harry's blanket from his face. The infant's face was blotchy, his eyes were swollen from crying, and his forehead had a bleeding cut on it in the shape of a lightning bolt. But he was breathing, asleep and breathing. Lily sank to her knees in relief, a grief-stricken sob echoing in the small space. "Oh Harry, thank Merlin, my dear boy, you're okay. But your poor daddy."

Lily buried her nose into her son's unruly black hair that was just like his father's and inhaled his sweet scent, closing her eyes as another sob was wrenched from her chest.

Harry slept through it all, tears dried on his cheeks, the salt staining the corners of his eyes. Lily wet her thumb with her tongue and wiped away the evidence of his distress just as Sirius stormed into the room. "Lil? Where's James?"

Lily looked up at Sirius from her spot on the floor, her eyes red-rimmed and sniffling. What little bit of happiness Sirius had at seeing Lily and Harry disappeared as he took in her forlorn look. Sirius sank to the floor next to her, his eyes glassing over, "He found you? Is James coming in a few minutes?" Lily shook her head, fresh tears welling up in her eyes. "No...no, you-James is? No, he can't be. He's my best mate, he's-we're supposed to go-Peter! That sniveling, backstabbing, traitorous rat. I'm gonna fucking kill him."

"Sirius, you can't. We have to keep Harry safe now. It's what James sacrificed his life for, it's what we planned for in this scenario." Lily rose from the floor, carefully cradling Harry, her thumb swiping across the still irritated, but now scabbed scar on his forehead. "Voldemort will be searching for him even more vehemently now. We can't take any unnecessary risks. And if Peter is indeed working for Voldemort, he will have told his master all about our plans."

Sirius ran a hand through his shaggy hair, closing his eyes as a heavy sigh left his lips. "You're right, Lil. I'm sorry. My flat isn't unplottable. He'll be able to find us easily. If only my wretched mother weren't still living in Grimmauld Place. No one would be able to find us there. Perhaps we could go to France? But then again, would that be far enough?"

Lily sighed softly, feeling Harry starting to stir in her arms. She looked down at her pride and joy, thankful she had been able to escape with their lives. But her heart was heavy. She felt the weight of her rings on her left hand and wanted to just curl up and cry. But she couldn't. She and Sirius had to decide where to go to keep Harry safe from Voldemort. "America. We go to America."


	2. The Portkey

**A/N: Hello my dear readers. I am back with the second installment of Through It All. I am glad that y'all liked it. I hope I continue to do this pairing justice. Once again, big props to my girls in our GoT chat, the always awesome SaintDionysus, coyg-81, slytherinmomma88, safewordisdevilsnare, and GryffInTheGame. You ladies rock my socks. And as always, big love to my amazing and wonderful beta, Frogster. Please let me know what y'all think of this chapter. As always, love to all of you.**

 **Disclaimer: JK owns the world, I just play in it.**

 **XoXo,**

 **Elle.**

 _ **The Portkey**_

"America? Lil, you can't be serious. That would take an international Portkey. We'd have to go to the Ministry to get that and we have no idea if Voldemort has infiltrated the Ministry or not. It's mental." Sirius couldn't believe his ears. Lily had obviously lost her mind in her grief. Harry was now fully awake and crying once more, only adding to the tension in the room. "Not to mention, we'd both have no access to our vaults to get money to survive."

"Sirius, we can't get into our vaults now! The damn goblins are on his side. What difference does it make?" Lily asked, clearly exasperated with the situation they were in. But Sirius couldn't blame her. In the last year she, James and Harry had been hunted and hidden away. Now her husband was dead and she'd barely escaped alive with Harry.

Sirius sighed, running a hand through his shaggy hair, then pulling it down his face. "Lil, we can't just march into the Ministry and secure a Portkey to America. That would leave all sorts of tracks for Voldemort to follow."

Lily was trying to calm the distraught Harry, finally rummaging in the bag she'd brought, bringing out the stuffed toy wolf Remus had bought him. "You think we hadn't planned for that, Padfoot?" She dove her hand back into the bag of Harry's things, pulling out something wrapped in a cloth. Lily handed it over to Sirius carefully, bending her head to give Harry a kiss. "We've had it for months. Dumbledore made it the last time he came to visit us. It's unauthorized, so the ministry has no clue of its existence. It's our means to America. Everything that we needed for our escape was hidden in Harry's room. The Portkey, money, everything. So all you need to do is pack up, grab all the money you have and we can go."

Sirius gingerly unwrapped the linen from around the object. It was a broken Muggle radio antenna, bent at a wrong angle in the middle. He wrapped it back up and gave Lily a nod. "Okay, Lil. Just give me thirty minutes."

He left the pair of them on the small couch as he walked into his equally small bedroom. Sirius looked around at the messy space and shook his head. His best friend was dead, murdered by a genocidal maniac, all because of a stupid fucking prophecy. Sirius picked up a duffel bag from the floor and opened it up. He gave his wand a quick wave, summoning everything he could think of that he would need: only the basics, what he could carry easily.

As a wizard, he could carry more than a Muggle, thanks to being able to shrink his belongings, but it was different when it came to the money. You couldn't shrink that, fucking goblins.

Sirius moved his bed out from the wall, using his wand to lower the wards he'd put there and open the compartment he'd cut into the plaster. It was the safest place in the flat for him to store his money, as he could no longer use the bank.

Merlin, he'd give anything to not have been blown off his family tree, to take Lily and Harry there. But then again, there was no guarantee that his crazy mother, or even crazier cousins, hadn't given that madman the address to his childhood home. Sirius slid his arm into the hole up to his shoulder, his fingers gripped the large leather pouch and pulled it out.

It was heavy with Galleons, Knuts and Sickles, as well as some Muggle money that would have to be exchanged once they made it to America.

Sirius grabbed his worn leather jacket from the chair in the corner and fit the large pouch into the inner pocket. It was going to make the jacket heavy and lopsided, but he had no choice. With a wave of his wand, he shrank the duffel and slid the smaller parcel into the opposite jacket pocket, walking back out to Lily.

She was singing quietly to Harry, trying to get him back to sleep for the Portkey trip. It would be much easier if the infant was napping. Sirius sighed and leaned against the wall as he watched and listened to his best friend's widow.

There was a time in Hogwarts that he'd thought they would end up together. But James had won in the end. Not that it had been a competition between them. Early on, Sirius and Lily had been friends, spending quite a bit of time together, before he had become best friends with James. But even with all the antics of the Marauders, Sirius and Lily had remained close. That was what had allowed James to eventually seal the deal, when Sirius had realized his chances were slim. But James had made him promise that if anything had ever happened to him, Sirius would take care of Lily. That was before Harry had ever come along. Since Sirius was Harry's godfather, taking care of him was a given.

"Sirius?" Lily whispered, looking up at him, breaking Sirius out of his reminiscing.

Sirius shook his head, running a hand over his face, "Yeah, sorry. I'm ready when you are, Lil." He sauntered over, lifted the bag from the couch that held Lily and Harry's things, and slung it over his shoulder. Lily rose from the couch, carefully cradling the sleeping boy in her arms. "Where's the Portkey?"

Lily nodded toward the squat table in front of the couch, where the oddly bent radio antenna was lying, still wrapped in the ragged fabric. Sirius leaned down to pick it up, the magic concealed thrumming beneath his fingers. Black eyes met brilliant green and their fear was matched with a fierce determination to keep Harry safe.

"Where does it take us?" Sirius asked as he began to unwrap their escape route.

"I don't know. Dumbledore didn't tell James and me where in America it would take us. Just that it would take us to safety in the United States. I assume he has something set up for us," Lily said quietly, looking down at the now exposed piece of metal. She whispered the incantation over it to activate it and gave a heavy sigh. Sirius understood. They were leaving everything they had ever known behind, with no idea what lay ahead of them.

"Ready?" Sirius asked.

Lily shook her head no, tears in her eyes as she looked down at Harry. "But we have to. On three. One, two, three…"

They both reached for the Portkey at the same time, their fingers coming into contact with the cool metal. There was a tug behind their guts as they were pulled from the small flat into the unknown.


	3. Friend or Enemy?

**A/N: Hello my Allers! I'm back with our beloved Siriusly! In this chapter, they're touching down in America! Who do they meet?**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, I just play with them.**

 **XoXo,**

 **Elle.**

 **Friend or Enemy?**

Their feet touched the ground in the bright sunlit meadow, causing Sirius and Lily to both blink, trying to readjust their vision. It had been nighttime when they'd left London. Now it was broad daylight. When his eyes opened after adjusting, Sirius looked around blinking rapidly, the tears annoying him. He wiped them away. "There's a house up on that hill."

Lily raised her eyes, shielding them with one hand to look in the direction Sirius was now pointing. Then she turned a complete circle, surveying the landscape around her. "There's nothing else around here. I guess that's where Dumbledore meant for us to go."

Sirius didn't like this at all, but they had no choice. He pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and stepped downwind from Lily and the baby so the smoke blew in the opposite direction. Sirius pulled out his wand and lit the cigarette he'd pulled from the pack. As he inhaled the nicotine, Sirius shut his eyes and let the cancer stick do its work. "Lily, are you sure about this? We don't know who could be living here."

"Sirius, we don't have a choice. Dumbledore wouldn't have sent us here if it wasn't safe." Lily bounced Harry in her arms, the child still sleeping peacefully. Sirius dropped the cigarette butt to the grass and ground it into the soil with his boot, making sure it was out. Lily was right, of course. They didn't have a choice, but he kept his wand out all the same as they started walking toward the old farmhouse.

The yards of meadow seemed to stretch on forever, the knee high grass swaying in the breeze. The closer they got to the house, the more nervous Sirius became. He didn't like walking into the unknown and this was exactly that.

When they got to the fence surrounding the front yard, Lily gave Sirius an apprehensive glance. Sirius opened the gate for her to step through with Harry, but they hit a boundary spell, setting off alarms. The door to the farmhouse opened and out stepped Caradoc Dearborn. "Doc?" Lily asked, her voice incredulous.

The wizard had been missing for months. No one had known what had happened to him. One day, he'd been at an Order meeting and the next, he'd been gone. Caradoc waved his wand and the alarms stopped, the air shimmered as the wards dropped. "Lily? Sirius? Where's James?"

Lily's eyes flooded with tears as she finally stepped through the gate and closed the distance of the grass to the porch steps. Sirius was right behind her, his hand on her lower back. "He found us, Doc. James...he delayed him so I could save Harry and get to Sirius. But James wasn't strong enough." She dissolved into tears, burying her nose against Harry's unruly hair.

Sirius wrapped his arms around her, careful not to squeeze Harry. The look on Caradoc's face was full of shock, remorse and grief for his fellow comrade. "Please, come in. You must be exhausted."

Lily sniffled a little, but she was still crying, the tears trailing silently down her cheeks as she followed Caradoc into the house. Sirius was behind her, taking in every minute detail he could, cataloging it to memory. Until he got the full story from Doc, he wasn't going to trust the man. He kept a hand touching Lily at all times, hoping there weren't any anti-apparition wards in place. Though he was foolish for thinking that - there were all kinds of alarm wards around this place, no doubt there were wards against any kind of travel.

Caradoc lead them into a sitting room and Sirius sat down on a couch with Lily, draping a comforting arm across her shoulders. He had a brief thought of asking her if she wanted him to take Harry for a while. But Sirius knew Lily wouldn't relinquish her hold on her son anytime soon. Harry was all she had left of James.

"I'll go and make some tea," Caradoc murmured, and left the room.

Sirius could hear him in the kitchen, filling the kettle and knocking things around. He turned to Lily. "Does this feel right to you?"

Lily looked toward the door that Doc had left through. "You know I usually trust my gut instincts. They're usually right. I'm not getting any ill feelings from him. Let's just see what he has to say first. Besides, there are two of us and one of him."

"As far as we know." Sirius said somberly and looked around the room. There were no pictures around, but he was on edge regardless. He lifted his wand from beside his leg and muttered quietly, " _Homenum Revelio_."

"Sirius," Lily hissed. "He'll know you cast that."

Sirius shrugged as the results from the charm washed over him. "He'll understand. Constant vigilance and all that. He's the only one here, besides us."

Caradoc returned, a tight smile on his face. Sirius could tell that he knew about the spell Sirius had cast, but Caradoc said nothing about it. The wizard across from them set the tray of tea down and began to wandlessly disperse it, asking his guests what they liked in their tea. Once they were all settled a few minutes later, Caradoc took a deep breath. "I suppose you're wondering why I'm alive and where I went?"

Lily gave a small nod, sipping her tea with one hand. Sirius was the one to speak up, "I would think that would be most obvious, Doc. You fucking disappeared without a trace. And we did think you were dead. But it turns out you're alive and living worry-free in America."

"Alive, yes. Without a trace and worry-free, no. Just before I left, Dumbledore came to me. He knew that I had relatives in America and asked me to get in contact with them, in order to set up a safe house. For you, Lily, and your family. But when I tried to contact my uncle, his house elf traveled all the way to me, informing me that my uncle was very ill. I explained the situation to Dumbledore and left immediately, with his permission, to set up this safe house, myself. A month after my arrival, my uncle passed. His spell work, the charms and wards had worn off with his death, so I resurrected them and strengthened them with my own while also utilizing Gritzy's elven magic to further fortify the house, making it more than unplottable. The only way to arrive is by a Portkey made by myself." Caradoc paused, taking a sip of his tea.

Sirius exchanged shocked glances with Lily, both having a hard time digesting what their friend was telling them.

Caradoc set his cup down on the saucer once again and took another breath before continuing. "It took me months to finish protecting this entire property. As you saw, the entire meadow is surrounded by trees and it is a large plot of land. When I finished, I made two Portkeys. One for myself and one for you. I travelled to Dumbledore to inform him of my progress and success, as well as to give him your means of escape. Then travelled back here immediately. I had hoped that you would use the Portkey before he found you, before anything bad happened. Lily, I am so very sorry."

A cry from Harry startled them all and Lily broke eye contact to give her attention to her son. Sirius, however, kept his eyes trained on Caradoc, who was watching Lily with Harry. Sirius was by no means as good a judge of truth and lies as Lily. It was just a knack she possessed, but he knew that Doc's story sounded plausible as well as true. There was only one thing that didn't add up to Sirius. But as Harry was currently working himself into a good fit, he couldn't ask Lily until his godson calmed.

The three adults sat rather awkwardly as Lily tried to calm Harry, eventually fixing him a bottle. When the baby had quieted, Sirius turned to Lily. "I thought you said Dumbledore had made the portkey for you and James?"

Lily looked up from Harry, her eyes connecting with Sirius'. "We didn't actually watch him make it. He just brought it over and said that he'd made it. We just assumed he had made it." She then turned to Caradoc. "I just can't believe you're alive."

Harry spit the bottle out and began crying again. Lily blew out a frustrated breath. "Doc, I don't want to be an inconvenience, but I think Harry wants some real food."

"You will never be an inconvenience here, Lily. Anything you need, Gritzy and I will do anything we can to give you everything you need." Caradoc smiled softly and he rose. "I'll be right back."

Sirius gave a nod, watching the portly Irishman leave. Harry grunted and started squirming in Lily's arms, reaching for Sirius. "Hey, little guy. We're getting you some food." Harry became adamant, wanting Sirius to hold him.

He felt bad for taking him from Lily, but Harry would only get more distraught. As it was now, he was almost screaming for Sirius. "Pad!"

Lily gave Sirius a look and Sirius returned it with sorrow in his eyes as he lifted Harry from Lily's lap and set him in his own. Harry immediately lifted a hand to tug at Sirius' tangled curls, his fingers threading through them. It was one of his favorite pastimes, his favorite being going for a ride on Snuffles and tugging on his ears. Sirius felt a pang of hurt in his chest at the other nickname James had given his Animagus form. Snuffles had come about after Harry had been born.

Sirius tilted his head in the direction Harry was tugging, so as not to have his hair pulled out, and looked at Lily from the corner of his eye. "How you holding up, flower?"

"I think I'm still too shocked right now to fully process. I just know it's going to hit me later and I'm not sure I'll be able to hold myself together." Lily gave Sirius a sad smile and her vivid green eyes dropped to look at Harry. "My other half is dead, Pads. The love of my life, the father of my child. Just gone from this life. Taken by a genocidal, homicidal, hypocritical maniac. What did we do to deserve this punishment?"

Sirius could see the shine of tears appearing in her eyes and a lump formed in his throat. He couldn't leave her alone tonight, not when he knew she was a hairsbreadth away from a breakdown. "Nothing. You did absolutely nothing to deserve this. Fate is just a cruel bitch. But we will kill that evil bastard for what he has done." And Sirius meant it with every fiber of his being.


End file.
